07-10-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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2. Character of Orono: please don't change the character of Orono and this neighborhood. Navarre/Spring Lake park is a sleepy lake side town — Orono has cat tails on the logo. This is NOT Wayzata. Orono has a rural feel with beautiful roads weaving through the countryside — the City Conservation Plan calls on you to protect the unique qualities of our lake side City. This condo building is too massive for the location and small lot. It is 4 stories high and close to the street. There is NOT enough parking and it will dramatically change the look and feel of our neighborhood. The condos built in Wayzata tower above the town. It has changed the character of Wayzata. This proposed condo building is very modern, cold, a lot of iron/steel and does not at all have the look and feel of a smaller, lake inspired community that could actually enhance the surroundings rather than look completely out of place. I like modern buildings but they belong in downtown Minneapolis not Orono. When I look at the steel siding of the freshwater business center, I think it too look out of place. Nothing about this condo design speaks to a lakeside community. We are very opposed to changing the zoning to allow a 40 foot height structure. Just like the previous Delaney project, we heard that "unless we can build X number of units, we can't make money". Whether the Developer can make money is NOT a reason to approve a project. The project should be approved if it Adds to the look and feel, the character of the area — not because the plan being proposed is the only way the Developer will move forward. 3. Parking: the current Orono plan speaks to Shadywood NOT being conducive to high density housing. This fact was recognized many years ago when the current plan was written. They saw that the traffic was already too congested. You may have done a traffic study but we live here and at 8 a.m. or 5:30 p.m., cars coming west on 15 are backed up around the corner by Culvers. Think about adding 40 condos, 80 cars plus resident cars to this congestion. And then think about the owners actually living in their homes and having parties and guests over. Alex is proposing 40 underground parking spots and 40 above ground spots. At the open house, I asked him about this number and he said "I need the condo project approved because I don't have enough parking for my current building (the Freshwater Business Center" ...what? If he has parking problems for the business center, a condo building with the bare minimum will not solve his problem. Where will the overflow go when anyone has more than 2 cars, has friends or a party or there is an event at one of the lessors at Freshwater? It is NOT safe to park on Shadywood. Will they park at Lunds and try to walk across the busy road? The lot simply does not have enough space for the parking required. We have a lot of bikers who bike along Shadywood. 4. Traffic: if things are backed up on Shadywood.... the escape route is right down our quiet streets: Kelly Avenue and Lydiard. We already have many trucks and cars who cut through our neighborhood trying to avoid the 4 corner lights at Shadywood/15. Unfortunately these commuters don't follow the speed limit and come racing down Kelly to access Shadywood. Increasing the through traffic on Kelly is not safe or desirable for our residents. 5. Property values: my understanding is that they will price the condos at $750,000. 1 would like to see a market study to see if condos on a busy road, with little parking or green space and a view of a swamp could sell for this price. The interesting thing is that The Mist in Spring Lake Park tried this experiment